RT’s signal is carried by 22 satellites and over 230 operators, which allows some 700 million people to watch the channel in more than 100 countries.
RT is available to more than 120 million European viewers.
In the UK, starting in July 2010, RT began broadcasting 24/7 through Freeview, Britain’s largest digital terrestrial television with a reach of more than 55 million. By 2011, RT’s audience has grown more than 2.4 million people, according to a Kantar Media survey, with monthly audience showing a 40% increase from the previous year. Since June 2012, UK’s BARB (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) has been including RT in its official weekly rankings, where it has consistently and significantly outperforms other foreign channels including Euronews and Fox News. RT’s quarterly audience in the UK is 2.5 million viewers.
In the United States, about 85 million people in key urban areas can watch RT in English and Spanish via cable or satellite, including Comcast, Dish Network and Time Warner Cable. Key spots include New York City, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. In 2014 RT’s weekly audience in seven of the largest US cities has doubled, according to a Nielsen survey. Residents of Washington, D.C., New York and other American cities prefer RT to other international TV channels, such as Euronews, Deutsche Welle and France 24. Nielsen conducted its study on the international TV channels’ audience in seven major US urban areas: Washington, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Diego. According to the study, almost 3 million people in these cities tune in to RT every week. Moreover, RT has enjoyed the highest increase in weekly audience reach among all surveyed channels, staying ahead of CNN International, BBC World News, Al Jazeera America and Euronews.
In Canada RT is available in through CATV, IPTV and other carriers. Across Canada’s major metropolitan areas, over 100,000 people watch RT daily – more than watch Sky News and other leading international channels, according to a survey conducted by TNS Canada (2012). RT’s daily audience in Canada leads that of Sky News, Euronews, Deutsche Welle, NHK, Press TV and France 24; the channel has almost triple the viewers of Euronews, nearly double Britain’s Sky News and more than 11 times higher than France 24. RT’s Canadian audience is also extremely loyal: along with Canada’s own CTV News Channel and CBC News Network, RT leads all other channels in the level of monthly audience that watches daily.
RT Arabic is widely watched in the Middle East and North Africa. According to Nielsen research (2010) over 5 million people watch RT in 7 Arab countries – Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia – more than leading European channels Deutsche Welle Arabic, France 24 Arabic and Chinese CCTV Arabic all together.
In Asia and Africa, RT is also highly popular. According to Ipsos Synovate PAX research, only for 2011 RT’s monthly audience in India grew by over 30 percent and the network is available to more than 154 million viewers. In Bangkok and Taipei, the Russian channel is watched more than Al Jazeera English (Synovate PAX ECI Q4´09). According to Synovate data, RT’s daily reach in the Republic of South Africa is 4.5 times bigger than those of Deutsche Welle, France 24, and TV5 Monde taken together (Synovate EMS Africa, 2010).
RTDoc, RT’s documentary channel, is being carried by the Hot Bird satellite (RTDoc’s broadcast on Hot Bird satellite (Hot Bird 8, 13°E, frequency : 12015 Mhz, polarization: H, symbol rate: 27500, FEC: ¾) which is received by 120 million households across Europe, Middle East and North Africa. The channel is also available to some 63 million viewers via non-satellite delivery. RTDoc’s reach covers network subscribers in Germany, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Bulgaria and Macedonia. In the United States and Canada, more than a million viewers can access RTDoc via the IPTV Roku system.
Find cable and satellite channels that carry RT around the world at Where to Watch.
RT is available in more than 2.7 million hotel rooms throughout the world – more than any other channel. During 2010, the number of hotels carrying RT’s broadcast doubled to over 8,000, including over a thousand four- and five-star hotels in the USA. RT is available in the world’s top hotel chains including Hilton, Ritz-Carlton, Marriott International, Hyatt, Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Kempinski, Renaissance Hotels, Taj Resorts and Palaces, Holiday Inn, Four Seasons Hotels, Starwood Hotels, Best Western, and Sofitel. We run a special Partner Program with Hotel owners to promote their business with RT.
Many of the network’s broadcasts and news footage can be found on RT’s website, rt.com and RT’s YouTube channel. The network broadcasts on mobile platforms through a free application for Iphone, Blackberry, and Android. Viewers can also follow RT on Facebook and on Twitter @RT_com, @RT_America, @RT_russian, @RTarabic and @ActualidadRT. More details on where to watch RT is available at Where to Watch.